I Cinesi (probabilmente) hanno detecato SEGNALI ALIENI, ma poi cancellano la pubblicazione scientifica della notizia (per ragioni di sicurezza nazionale) perché devono essere interferenze

 16/6/2022 LIVE SCIENCE: China says it may have received signals from aliens

Scientists have yet to rule out human radio interference as the signals' source.

China is claiming that its enormous "Sky Eye" telescope may have picked up trace signals from a distant alien civilization, according to a recently posted and subsequently deleted report by Chinese scientists. Astronomers at Beijing Normal University have discovered "several cases of possible technological traces and extraterrestrial civilizations from outside the Earth," according to a report published Tuesday (June 14) in Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China's Ministry of Science and Technology. The signals were picked up by China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), nicknamed "Sky Eye," which is the largest radio telescope in the world. Sky Eye was put to work scanning deep space for radio signals that could indicate extraterrestrial life in 2019; sifting through that data in 2020, the researchers said they spotted two suspicious narrow-band, potentially artificial radio signals. Then, in 2022, a targeted survey of known exoplanets found another strange narrow-band radio signal, bringing the tally up to three

As the signals are narrow-band radio waves typically only used by human aircraft and satellites, they could have been produced by alien technology. However, the scientists say their findings are preliminary and should be taken with caution until the analysis is complete. "These are several narrow-band electromagnetic signals different from the past, and the team is currently working on further investigation," Zhang Tongjie, head scientist at the China Extraterrestrial Civilization Research Group at Beijing Normal University, told the Science and Technology Daily. "The possibility that the suspicious signal is some kind of radio interference is also very high, and it needs to be further confirmed and ruled out. This may be a long process." Following its publication, the report quickly began to circulate on the Chinese social media network Weibo and was picked up by a number of other state-run outlets. The reasons behind its sudden deletion are unclear.

The signals aren't the first time that scientists have been baffled by radio waves from deep space. In August 1977, a SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) search performed by the Ohio State University's Big Ear telescope picked up an incredibly strong, minute-long, electromagnetic burst that flared at a frequency scientists suspected could be used by alien civilizations. Upon spotting the signal on a data printout, the scientist working with the telescope that night, Jerry Ehman, hastily scribbled "Wow!" in red pen on the page, giving the detection its famous name. Follow-up searches in the same region of space have all returned empty-handed, and later research has suggested that the signal could have come from a sun-like star located in the constellation Sagittarius, Live Science previously reported. Nonetheless, the signal's source is still a mystery. Chinese astronomers are keen to rule out radio interference because it has famously waylaid alien-hunting scientists in the recent past. In 2019, astronomers spotted a signal beamed to Earth from Proxima Centauri — the nearest star system to our sun (sitting roughly 4.2 light-years away) and home to at least one potentially habitable planet. 

The signal was a narrow-band radio wave typically associated with human-made objects, which led scientists to entertain the exciting possibility that it came from alien technology. New studies released two years later, however, suggested that the signal was most likely produced by malfunctioning human technology, Live Science previously reported. Similarly, another famous set of signals once supposed to have come from aliens, detected between 2011 and 2014, turned out to have actually been made by scientists microwaving their lunches. Tonjie has added that his team is planning to take repeat observations of the strange signals to conclusively rule out any radio interference and obtain as much information about them as possible

"We look forward to the [FAST telescope] being the first to discover and confirm the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations," Tongjie told the Science and Technology Daily. The discrepancy between the universe's scope and age and the apparent lack of intelligent life-forms beyond Earth — called the Fermi Paradox — has long troubled scientists. The paradox takes its name from the casual lunchtime musings of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, who, after contemplating the conundrum, is famously said to have remarked "so where is everybody?

16/6/2022 SCIENCE ALERT: Astronomers in China Claim Possible Detection of 'Extraterrestrial Civilizations'

China is claiming that its enormous "Sky Eye" telescope may have picked up trace signals from a distant alien civilization, according to a recently posted and subsequently deleted report by Chinese scientists. Astronomers at Beijing Normal University have discovered "several cases of possible technological traces and extraterrestrial civilizations from outside the Earth", according to a report published Tuesday (June 14) in Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China's Ministry of Science and Technology. The signals were picked up by China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), nicknamed "Sky Eye," which is the largest radio telescope in the world. Sky Eye was put to work scanning deep space for radio signals that could indicate extraterrestrial life in 2019; sifting through that data in 2020, the researchers said they spotted two suspicious narrow-band, potentially artificial radio signals.

Then, in 2022, a targeted survey of known exoplanets found another strange narrow-band radio signal, bringing the tally up to three. Related: 9 things we learned about aliens in 2021

As the signals are narrow-band radio waves typically only used by human aircraft and satellites, they could have been produced by alien technology. However, the scientists say their findings are preliminary and should be taken with caution until the analysis is complete. "These are several narrow-band electromagnetic signals different from the past, and the team is currently working on further investigation," Zhang Tongjie, head scientist at the China Extraterrestrial Civilization Research Group at Beijing Normal University, told the Science and Technology Daily. "The possibility that the suspicious signal is some kind of radio interference is also very high, and it needs to be further confirmed and ruled out. This may be a long process."

Following its publication, the report quickly began to circulate on the Chinese social media network Weibo and was picked up by a number of other state-run outlets. The reasons behind its sudden deletion are unclear.  The signals aren't the first time that scientists have been baffled by radio waves from deep space. In August 1977, a SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) search performed by the Ohio State University's Big Ear telescope picked up an incredibly strong, minute-long, electromagnetic burst that flared at a frequency scientists suspected could be used by alien civilizations.

Upon spotting the signal on a data printout, the scientist working with the telescope that night, Jerry Ehman, hastily scribbled "Wow!" in red pen on the page, giving the detection its famous name. Follow-up searches in the same region of space have all returned empty-handed, and later research has suggested that the signal could have come from a Sun-like star located in the constellation Sagittarius, Live Science previously reported. Nonetheless, the signal's source is still a mystery. Chinese astronomers are keen to rule out radio interference because it has famously waylaid alien-hunting scientists in the recent past. In 2019, astronomers spotted a signal beamed to Earth from Proxima Centauri – the nearest star system to our sun (sitting roughly 4.2 light-years away) and home to at least one potentially habitable planet.

The signal was a narrow-band radio wave typically associated with human-made objects, which led scientists to entertain the exciting possibility that it came from alien technology. New studies released two years later, however, suggested that the signal was most likely produced by malfunctioning human technology, Live Science previously reported. Similarly, another famous set of signals once supposed to have come from aliens, detected between 2011 and 2014, turned out to have actually been made by scientists microwaving their lunches. Tonjie has added that his team is planning to take repeat observations of the strange signals to conclusively rule out any radio interference and obtain as much information about them as possible. "We look forward to the [FAST telescope] being the first to discover and confirm the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations," Tongjie told the Science and Technology Daily. The discrepancy between the Universe's scope and age and the apparent lack of intelligent life-forms beyond Earth – called the Fermi Paradox – has long troubled scientists. The paradox takes its name from the casual lunchtime musings of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, who, after contemplating the conundrum, is famously said to have remarked, "So where is everybody?"



"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."– Carl Sagan (Cosmos, 1980)

This phrase is the standard that astronomers will be applying to a curious signal captured with China's "Sky Eye" telescope that might be a transmission from alien technology. An article reporting the signal was posted on the website of China's state-backed Science and Technology Daily newspaper, but was later removed. So have astronomers finally found evidence of intelligent found life beyond Earth? And is it being hushed up?

We should be intrigued, but not too excited (yet). An interesting signal has to go through a lot of tests to check whether it truly carries the signature of extraterrestrial technology or is just the result of an unexpected source of terrestrial interference. And as for the deletion: media releases are normally timed for simultaneous release with peer-reviewed results – which are not yet available – so it was likely just released a bit early by mistake. Sky Eye, which is officially known as the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), is the the largest and most sensitive single-dish radio telescope in the world. A engineering marvel, its gargantuan structure is built inside a natural basin in the mountains of Guizhou, China. The telescope is so huge it can't be physically tilted, but it can be pointed in a direction by thousands of actuators that deform the telescope's reflective surface. By deforming the surface, the location of the telescope's focal point changes, and the telescope can look at a different part of the sky.

FAST detects radiation at radio wavelengths (up to 10 cm) and is used for astronomical research in a wide range of areas. One area is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI. SETI observations are mainly done in "piggy-back" mode, which means they are taken while the telescope is also running its primary science programs. In this way, large swaths of the sky can be scanned for signs of alien technology – or "technosignatures" – without getting in the way of other science operations. For special targets like nearby exoplanets, dedicated SETI observations are still carried out.

Technosignature searches have been ongoing since the 1960s, when the American astronomer Frank Drake pointed the 26-meter Tatel telescope toward two nearby Sun-like stars and scanned them for signs of technology. Over the years, technosignature searches have become far more rigorous and sensitive. The systems in place at FAST are also able to process billions of times more of the radio spectrum than Drake's experiment. Despite these advances, we haven't yet found any evidence of life beyond Earth.

FAST sifts through enormous amounts of data. The telescope feeds 38 billion samples a second into a cluster of high-performance computers, which then produces exquisitely detailed charts of incoming radio signals. These charts are then searched for signals that look like technosignatures. With such a large collecting area, FAST can pick up incredibly faint signals. It is about 20 times more sensitive than Australia's Murriyang telescope at the Parkes Radio Observatory. FAST could easily detect a transmitter on a nearby exoplanet with a similar output power to radar systems we have here on Earth.

The trouble with sensitivity The trouble with being so sensitive is that you can uncover radio interference that would otherwise be too faint to detect. We SETI researchers have had this problem before. Last year, using Murriyang, we detected an extremely interesting signal we called BLC1. However, it turned out to be very strange interference (not aliens). To uncover its true nature, we had to develop a new verification framework.

With BLC1, it took about a year from when it was initially reported to when peer-reviewed analysis was published. Similarly, we may need to wait a while for the FAST signal to be analyzed in depth. Professor Zhang Tongjie, chief scientist for the China Extraterrestrial Civilization Research Group, acknowledged this in the Science & Technology Daily report: The possibility that the suspicious signal is some kind of radio interference is also very high, and it needs to be further confirmed and ruled out. This may be a long process. And we may need to get used to a gap between finding candidate signals and verifying them. FAST and other telescopes are likely to find many more signals of interest. Most of these will turn out to be interference, but some may be new astrophysical phenomena, and some may be bona fide technosignatures.

Stay intrigued 
Will FAST's extraordinary signals meet the burden of extraordinary evidence? Until their work is reviewed and published, it's still too early to say, but it's encouraging that their SETI search algorithms are finding curious signals. Between FAST, the Breakthrough Listen initiative, and the SETI Institute's COSMIC program, the SETI field is seeing a lot of interest and activity. And it's not just radio waves: searches are also underway using optical and infrared light.
As for right now: stay intrigued, but don't get too excited.